-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- More than a week after the grand jury 's decision in Ferguson , protests continue nationwide . On campuses , in malls , on streets and in stadiums , Americans young and old are voicing their anger about the non-indictments in the deaths of Michael Brown and now Eric Garner in New York -- and about the rigged system that makes such results all too common .

This proliferation of protests is good . But it 's not good enough .

First , let 's reflect a bit on why it 's good . Anytime Americans start seeing themselves as more than mere consumers or spectators -- rather , as citizens and participants -- something healthy is happening . That 's especially true when people are willing to flex their citizen muscles during the start of peak shopping season .

So seeing protesters from Seattle to New York engage in civil disobedience on Black Friday was heartening . Did all the walk-outs and `` die-ins '' inconvenience some shoppers and deal-seekers ? Sure . The post-Ferguson moment demands , at a bare minimum , that we all raise our sights beyond one-day sale tags .

But while the protests are promising and necessary , they are also insufficient . A deeper phase of work is needed . And here all of America can learn from what 's already been happening in Missouri .

The media has tended to focus on the most eye-catching conflict -- either daytime marches with famous activists , or nighttime rioting after the grand jury decision . But off-camera , people on the ground in and around this community have been doing something simple and difficult . They 've been moving from protest to power .

Faith groups and grassroots organizers like Communities Creating Opportunity and the Organization for Black Struggle have , since this summer , been engaging people in Ferguson to organize and advocate for reforms , to register , to vote , to understand the makeup and the methods of the city council and the state legislature . In short , to do politics .

This may seem unsatisfying to some , even irrelevant . The members of the millennial generation who are driving so many of the protests today are idealistic and networked -- but also exceedingly cynical about traditional politics and government .

And young African-Americans who are most often subjected to arbitrary abuses by the criminal justice system have the most reason to be mistrustful of the larger political machinery that begat that system .

But what the grassroots organizers in Ferguson teach us is that there is no avoiding politics . Indeed , there is no way to achieve any scaled and durable reform without stepping into the arena of government , policy , politics , and elections .

A change in city council representation can lead to a change in how truly representative one 's police force is . A well-coordinated campaign to let elected officials know you are part of a collective with voice , clout , savvy , and votes can lead to a change in attitude among those elected -- and then to changes in policy .

What this requires is an understanding of the institutions that govern how we govern ourselves . What it requires is literacy in civic power . This is why the organization I run , Citizen University , is working with partners around the country to teach people about the skills and systems of power .

And it 's why everyone , left or right -- and especially those living on the front lines of racial disparity and violent inequity -- must learn how to read and to write power .

Wherever you live , ask yourself : Could I teach someone what the activists in Ferguson are teaching people now ? Could I teach them how my city makes policy , how politicians respond to public pressure , how to navigate the rules of voting , how to make votes cancel out money ?

All around the world , from Tahrir Square a few years ago to Hong Kong today , we see young people caught up in what one journalist called `` the euphoria of defiance . '' Alas , in most of those situations , we also see what happens when protesters are unable to convert civil disobedience into civil self-rule .

That requires strategy . It requires organization . It requires patient instruction in citizenship .

Fifty-nine years ago this week , Rosa Parks made a heroic choice not to sit at the back of the bus . But what her story teaches us is this : Heroes are what happens when a moment calls forth people well prepared by institutions .

Parks did not arrive randomly at that occasion on that bus . She had been groomed by an ecosystem of civil rights groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , trained at places like the Highlander Folk School . She had understood her choice -- her immovable defiance -- to be part of a larger story and a methodical strategy for the attainment of power .

This is what unsung but undaunted citizen organizers and educators are doing in Ferguson today . They 've moved past `` Hands Up , Do n't Shoot '' gestures . They are getting hands-on about changing their community . And so should we all . That 's how we can make this a season of powerful citizenship .

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Eric Liu : Protests over Ferguson are promising , but also insufficient .

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Everyone , left or right , must learn how to read and to write power : Liu

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Liu : Rosa Parks understood her choice to be part of a larger story